Title: A500 Mini review – tiny Commodore Amiga is a robust piece of tech nostalgia
Author: Keith Stuart
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2022 09:45:03 +0000
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/apr/12/a500-mini-commodore-amiga-review
Podcast Download URL: https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7a7c6adbc88509c081f462fd660de40764ba9fcb/0_20_6000_3600/master/6000.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=5b409d8e230e9a6a9b948cf0274a0b7d

This miniature Amiga 500 comes with 25 games from a fertile period in video
game history

Back when the console industry was still young, and the PC was an expensive
business machine for grownups, the Commodore Amiga was one of the most vibrant
and diverse gaming platforms available. Originally launched as the Amiga 1000
in 1985, its 16-bit 68000 CPU and array of graphics acceleration coprocessors
promised a new era of visually and sonically advanced gaming – a prospect
realised by the 1987 launch of the more affordable Amiga 500. Supported by an
array of small, talented studios, and inspiring a vast community of demo
coders, it was the home computer for a generation of players and creators. Now,
following the success of retro consoles such as the SNES Mini[1] and Mega Drive
Mini[2] the Amiga is back in the form of the A500 Mini, a teeny replica of the
original Amiga 500 with 25 built-in games.

As with other machines in this growing category, the A500 is designed to be
plugged into a modern LCD TV via an HDMI cable. Users can opt to run games in
50hz or 60hz depending on their display; they can also scale the image to fit,
and there’s a decent CRT mode, which simulates the scan lines you’d see on an
old cathode ray TV or monitor. However you set things up, what you’re getting
is Amiga code running via an emulator rather than on the original hardware or
an FPGA like the Analogue Mega Sg[3]. However, the emulation is excellent and
every one of the built-in games plays perfectly well, with no weird glitches or
controller issues. The system also supports later iterations of the Amiga
system, namely the Enhanced Chip Set and the Advanced Graphics Architecture of
the Amiga 1200.
Continue reading...[4]

Links:
[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/28/nintendo-classic-mini-snes-review-fun-sized-reboot-of-greatest-ever-console-mario-yoshi-zelda (link)
[2]: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2019/sep/19/sega-mega-drive-mini-review-a-legacy-truly-honoured (link)
[3]: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2019/apr/03/analogue-mega-sg-review (link)
[4]: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/apr/12/a500-mini-commodore-amiga-review (link)

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